Adam Chandani – Youth activist
Volunteer lead of the Universities and School engagement program for the World Partnership Walk in Vancouver and regional campaign assistant Vancouver and Victoria
Adam Chandani – who is now 19 – has been volunteering for Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s World Partnership Walk since he was seven, and there is no sign that his enthusiasm for being engaged in
international development may be waning.
“I’ve gone to the Walk with my friends even when I was younger, and at age seven, I started raising money as an ambassador,” he says. The contributions he collected that first year amounted to about $200 and Chandani recalls the involvement acting as a catalyst. “It started something for me. Since then, I’ve been an ambassador every year.”
Chandani amped up his engagement when he was 15. “In grade 10, I started a school team,” he says. As a student at Mulgrave School in West Vancouver, Chandani and his team raised over $3,000 that year and more than double that amount the following year. “We made the school aware [of the initiative] and when I was in grade 12, we raised over $35,000,” he says. “It was great, the whole school got involved. We had students, teachers and the principal come out for the Walk.”
While there is a multitude of options for Canadian students who want to volunteer, Chandani says he and many of his friends understand the value of Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s approach. “The biggest factor for me is that 100 per cent of the funds are going directly to the cause,” he says, adding that effective sustainable development encompasses asking the people and communities in developing countries about the support they need and then helping them attain the skills and tools to succeed.
Chandani is now the volunteer lead of AKFC’s Universities and School engagement program for the World Partnership Walk in Vancouver. “We have 25 school teams in Vancouver and are actively trying to increase that number to over 40 schools,” he says. “It’s not just about fundraising, but also about building awareness.”
According to a recent survey, 80 per cent of Canadians participating in the poll expressed interest in supporting international development, yet only 10 per cent were actively engaged, says Chandani. “Many Canadians don’t know how to get involved and my goal is to give them a chance to know how we can really make a difference.”
http://specialfeature.worldpartnershipwalk.com/content/adam-chandani-youth-activist
http://specialfeature.worldpartnershipwalk.com/
Earlier related Adam Chandani:
- Students Aliya-Nur Babul, Adam Chandani, Jahid Adam, Alina Salemohamed, Malika Dhalla, and Serena Virani participate in Vancouver Model United Nations 2014
- West Vancouver Mulgrave students held silent auction for the World Partnership Walk
Earlier related Partnership Walk Canada 2015:
Ismailimail 